cleansing

August 22, 2018

Daily Cleansing

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1 Therefore, rid yourselves of every kind of evil and deception, hypocrisy, jealousy, and every kind of slander, – 1 Peter 2:1 ISV
 
1 Peter2:1-3 ISV

When we buy a new house and start making plans to move in, the first thing we want to do is make sure the inside of that house is clean from top to bottom.  We also have a vision of what we want that house to look like in the future.  As we live in that house, it begins to reflect our likes and dislikes. The neighbors who are familiar with that house will notice the changes that are being made. Maybe, not so much the ones inside, but when the outside starts to change they will notice those.  Even those just driving by on a daily basis will start to notice the changes that are being made as your new house becomes a home to the new resident. Friends and neighbors will start to comment on how much better the house looks and what a great thing it is for the neighborhood.  When we accept Jesus as our Savior and the Holy Spirit moves into our hearts, He does the same thing.  He wants His new residence to be cleansed from all the fleshly desires and attitudes. He desires that His new home will start to reflect His likes and dislikes.  The work starts inisde, in our hearts.  With time and His leadership, the outside will start to change to reflect the changes that have occurred in our hearts.  Cleaning and maintaining a home requires a lot of cleaning products and time spent with those products. The cleansing and renewing of our hearts and minds requires a lot of time spent with God and using the cleansing power He provides for us.

 
26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. — Eph. 5:26, 27 NIV

​7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. — Psalm 51:7 NIV

Just as the original cleaning of the new home doesn’t last and has to be followed by daily cleanings, so it is with our hearts, they need to be washed in the word every day. If we remain faithful in spending our daily time with Jesus, friends and neighbors will start to notice the difference the new resident in our heart is making in our daily lives.
 
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous
Post 08-22-2018
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February 24, 2018

“Search My Heart, O Lord”

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21 You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. – 1 Cor. 10:21 NLT
 
1 Cor. 10:16-22 NLT
​When we take the Communion, we are all symbolically partaking of the same body and the same blood. This has been true ever since Jesus set the example with the disciples in the Upper Room. No matter what time it is in eternity, we are all bound together by that one body and one blood and it will be culminated in heaven when we all partake of the Communion at the great banquet table. So, we should never defile that practice by partaking of anything that has been sacrificed to idols or to demons of any sort. We cannot serve two masters and our God is a jealous God. We do not want to provoke Him.
13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), —Exodus 34:13, 14 NKJV
While we may not bow to wooden or golden images, we can still have things that we treasure more dearly than our relationship with God. These things or people are just as much an idol as any graven image. Each of us needs to ask the Holy Spirit to show us the things in our lives that grieve Him. Those things are our idols.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting–Psalm 139:23, 24 NKJV

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 02-24-2018

February 21, 2018

“Freely I Received, Freely I Give”

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18 What then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone. That’s why I never demand my rights when I preach the Good News. – 1 Cor. 9:18 NLT
1 Cor. 9;14-18 NLT
​Paul has gone through all of this to let them know what an apostle could require of them. He also wants them to understand that he has not used any of these rights for his own benefit nor does he want to use them now. Paul is going to preach the gospel, not for pay, but because his love for Jesus compels him to do so. He preaches voluntarily to lay up rewards in heaven. If he or we should do so for any other reason then we are merely fulfilling our duty and there will be little or no joy in doing so. Our salvation cost us nothing, it was paid for at Calvary, we should tell others just because we love Jesus.  If Paul is going to boast about anything it will be that he preaches the gospel without charging anyone for it and thus he will retain his reward. Each of us should feel the same way in using the gift that God has given each of us as a member of His body.

8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.—Matt. 10:8 NIV

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 02-21-2018

August 10, 2017

“Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs”

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19 “All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” – John 2:19 NLT
 
Signs

The Jewish leaders questioned the authority of Jesus and asked Him for a sign that God had given Him the authority to cleanse the temple. Jesus agreed to their demand, but with an answer that completely baffled them. No one could build this temple in three days, it would take years. They eventually saw the sign that Jesus was referring to, but the leaders probably didn’t know it because of their unbelief. Human nature hasn’t changed, people are still looking for a sign. How often do we miss what God is doing because of our “little faith”? Jesus knows whether we really believe or not when we ask Him for something. We know the “temple” that Jesus was speaking about was rebuilt (resurrected) in 3 days. Is the Cross and the Resurrection enough for us or do we still need a sign?
37 Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. 38 But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”–John 10:37,38 (NLT)
When Jesus completed the work His Father had sent Him to do, He said “It is finished”.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 08-10-2017

May 2, 2017

An Eternal Inheritance Guaranteed

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15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them.
— Hebrews 9:15 NLT
Hebrews 9:13-15 NLT


The sacrifices offered by the priests of the tribe of Levi could only cleanse the exterior, it was sufficient to make their bodies holy and clean. However, it did nothing on the inside of the priest or the individuals. That is why it had to be repeated over and over. When Jesus shed His blood, it was the perfect sacrifice, cleansing not only the body, but the heart and the conscience of each person accepting His sacrifice. Because Christ offered Himself, He gave us a new promise and established a new covenant. His perfect sacrifice will last for all ages and will never need to be repeated. Once we accept Jesus as our Savior, our place in Heaven is guaranteed forever. He has given us His Holy Spirit as an earnest, a down payment ensuring us of our heritage.


“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -AnonymousPost 05-02-2017

February 12, 2017

Grace, Grace, Amazing Grace

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5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) – Ephesians 2:5 NLT
Eph. 2:1-7 NLT
We are saved by God’s amazing grace. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation. It was bought and paid for at the cross on Calvary. Jesus paid for every sin that man has ever committed, past, present and future. His redeeming work is finished, He will not be going back to the cross. So, when we sin, and we all do, just remember that the blood of Jesus spilled at Calvary has already cleansed us. Our part is to ask for and accept that cleansing and forgiveness. He comes to us wherever we are, picks us up, cleans us, and restores us to Himself. It is all for His glory! So, we should give Him honor, praise, and glory every day of our lives.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 02-12-2017

November 4, 2014

The Disciples of Jesus Were Also Baptizing

God is waiting to show you the Way.

God is waiting to show you the Way.

22 Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people. 23 At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism. 24 (This was before John was thrown into prison.) 25 A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing. 26 So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”—John 3:22-26 (NLT)
​John​ the Baptist would continue his ministry until the time that Herod had him imprisoned. He continued to minister through his disciples until he was beheaded. At this time, Jesus was also teaching his disciples to baptize people. Jesus Himself did not baptize but directed His disciples (John 4:2) John’s disciples were concerned about this for John’s sake. But steadfast, faithful John completely understood his place in being the forerunner of Jesus. He was not bothered by this event at all. John knew that his work had to decrease and as Jesus took His own place in history, Jesus would increase. This had always been the plan from before the foundations of the earth. Let us be as faithful now as John was then and we will receive our rewards when we get to heaven.

*****Does anyone wonder why verse 25 is included in this narrative?
Post 11-04-14